Method of and apparatus for distributing agricultural chemicals



Nov. 5, 1968 J. M- PATTERSON 3,409,221

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS FiledMay 23, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet l JOSEPH u. mrreasou M ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1968J. M. PATTERSON METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING AGRICULTURALCHEMICALS Filed May 23, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEPH M.PATTERSON W M011 A'ITORNEY 1 J. M. PATTERSON 3,409,221

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58 00 rm \0- Q Q 00 N 88 no 0 N N WWW- ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1968 J. M.PATTERSON METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING AGRICULTURALCHEMICALS Filed May 23, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mvsuron JOSEPH u.PATTERSON ATTORNEY United States PatentOffice 3,409,221 Patented Nov. 5,1968 3,409,221 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUT- ING AGRICULTURALCHEMICALS Joseph M. Patterson, Winter Park, Fla., assignor to FMCCorporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 23,1966, Ser. No. 552,105

' 8 Claims. (Cl. 239-8) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus directsan air blast towards a row of trees to carry spray, prevent frost damageor shake for harvesting and includes a vehicle upon which a rotor ismounted having a radial arm that carries at its free end means fordischarging an air blast. Upon rotation of the rotor, the means fordischarging an air blast is carried to the trees, thus reducing theflight distance therebetween. A spray pattern resulting covers asubstantial area as represented by a series of circular paths, traced bythe free end of the rotor arm, with each circle being offset by'theamount of linear movement of the vehicle between each revolution.Oscillation of the tree branches is provided by the reverse direction ofmotion on opposite sides of the circular path and this results inimproved penetration of the spray.

The present invention pertains to agricultural sprayers, and moreparticularly concerns both an apparatus and a method for dispensingpowdered or liquid chemical upon orchard trees. It is now commonpractice for citrus fruit orchardists to mechanically prune rows oftrees with hedging machines which trim the sides of the trees. As aconsequence of this type of pruning, the spaces between the trees areovergrown more rapidly than if the trees Were pruned in the previousmanner of pruning all of the branches. This dense foliage makes theefiicient application of pesticides more difficult, and it has beenfound that adequate covering of the hidden foliage is not alwaysattained with the spraying apparatus 'now in general use.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for carrying outan improved air blast penetration of densely foliated trees, and forobtaining an improved coverage of the foliage with an agriculturalchemical entrained in the air blast. These results are in general madepossible by a vehicle-mounted rotor which disseminates an air blast withentrained chemicals from its peripheral portions as the vehicle movesalong a row of orchard trees.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved air blastdisseminating means for an agricultural spraying or dusting machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an agricultural sprayingapparatus having improved means for projecting an air blast throughdense foliage.

A further'object is the provision of an improved orchard sprayer whichis capable of simultaneously spraying each of the confronting surfacesof adjacent rows of orchard trees.

Another object is to provide an orchard sprayer in which the spraypattern is oscillated over the full height range of orchard trees.

Another object is to provide an improved method of dispersingagricultural chemicals.

Another object is to provide an improved apparatus for dispensingagricultural chemicals by entraining the chemicals in a substantiallyhorizontal air blast which is arranged to traverse an orbital path in avertical plane.

Another object is to provide an improved orchard sprayer which can beregulated to provide the optimum spray coverage for trees, shrubs, vinesand other crops of different height.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective of a preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic perspective similar to FIG- URE l, but partlybroken away to show various drive structures and pumping arrangementswhich would otherwise be concealed.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary schematic elevation, partly broken away, whichillustrates interior drive mechanism in one of the telescopic rotor armsshown in FIG- URES l and 2, the rotor arm being in an extended position.

FIGURE 4 is a schematic elevation, similar to FIG- URE 3, but with therotor arm in a retracted position. FIGURE 5 is a schematic verticalsection, taken along lines 5-5 on FIGURE 2, through one of the rotorhubs.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, schematic vertical section of a modifiedrotor arm constructed according to the present invention.

Briefly, the embodiment of the improved spraying apparatus 10illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 is a self contained unit arranged to betowed through an orchard grove by a tractor, and includes a frame 12having support wheels 14 and a draw bar 16 for coupling the unit to thetractor. A gasoline engine power unit E is mounted on the forward end ofthe frame in a louvered housing 18 and has its controls mounted on afront panel 19 which is readily accessible to the driver of the tractor.

A hollow tower 20 projects upward from the frame 12 and encloses variousmechanisms including power trains which drive a rotor assembly 22A atone side of the tower and a rotor assembly 223 at the other side of thetower. Each rotor assembly 22A and 22B includes four equally spaced,hollow telescopic arms 24. The distal end of each arm carries an axialflow air impeller 26 which is mounted inside an annular shroud 28 havinga coaxial hollow manifold ring 30. The manifold ring supplies spraymaterial to a plurality of radially inwardly directed liquid spraynozzles 32 that are mounted on the ring and project a chemical solutioninto the air blast of the impeller.

More specifically, and with particular reference to FIGURE 2, the frame12 is substantially enclosed by sheet metal panels and carries a liquidspray supply tank, not shown, which can be filled through a filler neckand cap 33. The supply tank communicates with the suction inlet of adischarge pump 34 that is coupled to a gear box 36, which is in turnpowered by a drive shaft 38 coupled to the engine E. The engine E isprovided with conventional clutch means operable by a clutch actuatinglever 44 that is mounted on the engine control panel 19. When the leveris pulled forward, the gear box 36 is driven by the engine.

A lateral output shaft 46 at each side of the gearbox 36 is connected-by a chain and sprocket drive assembly 48 to individual rotorjackshafts 50 that respectively transfer motor power to the rotorassemblies 22A and 2213. Each output shaft 46 is also provided with apulley and belt drive assembly 52 which is arranged to drive theimpellers 26 of the rotors 22A and 22B while the rotors are revolvingunder power supplied by other drive trains coupled to the rotorjackshafts 50. In order to prevent damage to the rotors, each rotorjackshaft 50 is connected to a jaw clutch 54 which releases at apredetermined force so that, if a rotor is accidentally stopped, such asby striking a tree limb, the drive train of the rotor will not bedamaged.

The driven element of each jaw clutch is coupled by a separate chain andsprocket drive train 56 to a hollow rotor shaft and hub assembly 60,only the near rotor shaft and hub assembly 60 being shown. The otherrotor shaft and hub assembly is of similar construction, but isreversely'oriented in the machine. It should be mentioned that it is notnecessary that a separate rotor shaft and hub assembly and associateddrive train be provided for each rotor 22A and 22B. A single, commonassembly can be used to mount and drive both rotors after obviousmodifications which involve only mechanical skill; the main advantage ofusing a single rotor shaft is in a certain economy of parts andconstruction costs.

The central portion of the rotor shaft and hub assembly 60 (FIG. 5)comprises a hollow shaft 62 with a blind outer end 63. The outer endportion of the shaft is rotatably mounted in an outboard bearing 64 thatis secured to an adjacent wall 66 of the tower 20. The centralbore ofthe shaft 62 is provided with one or more radial apertures 68 with whichthe hollow interior of the shaft communicates with the interior of aswivel coupling 70.

. Liquid pesticide or the like is conducted into the swivel coupling 70through a flexible conduit 72 (FIG. 2) which at its lower endcommunicates with the discharge outlet of the pump 34. At its other endthe hollow shaft 62 (FIG. 5) is connected to a fitting 74 having fourequally spaced legs which are each connected to a conduit 76. Theconduits 76 extend outward through the rotor arms 24 and are eachconnected to a pipe 78 (FIG. 1). Each pipe 78 communicates with theadjacent manifold ring 30 to supply liquid material to the spray nozzles32. Each conduit 76, although not illustrated in detail, is of a wellknown telescopic construction of slidably interfitted large and smalltubular sections, with suitable sealing means therebetween, whereby theconduit can accommodate lengthening or shortening of the telescopicrotor arm 24 in which it is mounted.

In addition to the function of supplying liquid spray material to therotor arms 24, the hollow shaft 62 (FIG. 5) acts as a drive shaft toprovide power to rotate the air impellers 26 on the distal ends of therotor arms. For this purpose, a sheave 80 is secured to the shaft 62,adjacent the swivel coupling 70, as a part of the pulley and belt driveassembly 52. The other end portion of the shaft 62 has a multi-groovesheave 82 secured thereto, around which four sets of dual V-belts 84 aretrained and extend outward in pairs through each rotor arm 24. Provisionis made for adjusting the effective length of the V-belts 84, and islater described in conjunction with FIGURES 3 and 4; as shown in thesefigures, the outer loop of each pair of V-belts is trained around asheave 86 which drives a shaft 88 that is journaled in the associatedrotor arm and is keyed to the impeller 26.

The hub portion of the rotor 22A (FIG. 5) includes an outer disc 90, aninner disc 92, and a cylindrical ring 94 to which are welded the innerends of the rotor arms 24 (FIG. 2). Secured to, and extending inwardfrom the inner disc 92, in circumscribing relation to the hollow shaft62, is a sleeve 96. The sleeve is mounted for rotation relative to theshaft 62 by means of interposed bearings 98 and 99, and is rotatablymounted in ball bearings 100 and 101, the latter of which lies within anadjacent wall 102 of the tower 20. The bearings 100 and 101 are eachbolted to fixed support channels 104.

Between the bearings 100 and 101, a drive sprocket 106 is secured to thebearing sleeve 96. The drive sprocket 106 is a part of the chain andsprocket drive train 56 for the rotor 22A. By means of the abovedescribed rotor hub structure, the rotor 22A is driven at relatively lowspeed, that is, below 30 revolutions per minute, while the impellers 26are rotated at relatively high speed, for example, above 1000revolutions per minute. While the rotor and impeller speeds are fixedrelative to each other, their actual speeds are of course dependent uponthe throttle setting of the engine E.

It will be understood that the preceding description, although it isdirected to the rotor 22A and its drive train, is equally applicable tothe rotor 22B and its drive train, the only difference being the reverseorientation of the parts for the rotor 22B, relative to the tower 20.Thus, the hub portion of the rotor 22B (FIGS. 3 and 4) also includes aninner disc 92, a cylindrical ring 94, and an outer disc 90 in coaxialarrangement with a sheave 82. The inner end portion of each of the rotorarms 24, as in the case of the rotor arms 24 (FIG. 1) for the rotor 22A,is a rectangular tubular member 110 which slidably receives an innertubular member 111 of corresponding shape. Means for locking the twotubes together, when the desired overall length is attained by manuallyextending or retracting the innermost tube, is by bolts 112 (FIG. 1)which are inserted in apertures in the outer tubular member and arethreaded into bosses 114 welded to a wall of the inner tubular member.The difference in the overlapped portions of the inner and outer tubularmembers and the difference in their over-all lengths, both as contrastedbetween FIGURES 3 and 4, indicate the effect of the telescopicadjustment above described.

Since the distance between the sheaves 82 and 86 for the impeller drivebelts 84 varies according to the adjusted length of each rotor arm 24,means are provided to take up any belt slack when the rotor arm isshortened. For this purpose, one flight of each belt 84 is trainedaround a dual pulley assembly including a movable pulley that is mountedupon a swing arm 122. The swing arm is pivoted at the turning axis of astationary, rotatable pulley 124. The same flight is trained around amovable pulley that is mounted on a swing arm 132, which is rotatableabout the turning axis of a stationary pulley 134. The swing arms 122and 132 are each urged away from the other by a tension spring 136whereby the interposed belt flight between the pulleys 120 and 130 istensioned and is thereby taken up in accord with telescopic adjustmentof the rotor arm 24.

It will be apparent that the adjusted lengths of the rotor arms need notbe the same. The particular utility of having the rotor arms adjusted todifferent lengths is that the rotary paths of the air impellers can thusbe different if the foliage to be sprayed is less dense than the heavyfoliage which can be penetrated when all air impellers follow the samerotary path. It will also be apparent that shut-off valves can beincorporated in the liquid spray conduits extending through each rotorarm so that only selected ones of the spray manifolds 30 discharge thechemical solution being applied. In such case a somewhat greaterdispersal of the spray is effected because all of the impellers 26continue to discharge air blasts, and the air to spray ratio is thusincreased.

The modification of the present invention illustrated in FIGURE 6provides a common air blast source for the rotor arms, thus providingsimpler and less costly spraying apparatus. Additionally, the modifiedstructure is readily adaptable to handle chemical dusts as well asliquid spray, although the hollow rotor arms 24 of the previouslydescribed embodiment of the invention obviously suggest to those skilledin the art that they can be used to conduct chemical dusts to theimpellers 26. To achieve dust distribution instead of liquid chemicaldistribution, the pump 34 is replaced by a dust generator, the liquidspray supply tank is replaced by a dust hopper, and the dust can beconveyed through supply lines within the rotor arms, or by the rotorarms themselves, to dust nozzles adjacent the air impellers 26. It willbe apparent that both dust apparatus and liquid spray apparatus can beincorporated into one spraying machine.

The rotor (FIG. 6) is mounted for rotation in the same plane as therotor 22B (FIG. 1) at one side of a tower structure 152 which is similarto the tower 20. The support vehicle for the tower 150 is essentiallythe same as the vehicle previously described, and the rotor 150 mayinclude two or more diametrically opposed hollow arms 154 whichcommunicate with an annular air discharge passage 156. Passage 156 liesinwardly from the fiared end portions of an inner bell-shaped shroud 158and an outer bell-shaped shroud 160, and is directed radially outwardfrom the axis of rotation 162 of the rotor 150. Shrouds 158 and.160 havecylindrical walls 164 and 166, respectively, which are symmetricallydisposed about the axis 162, and which are interconnected by a pluralityof radial airstraightening vanes 168. The shrouds and the rotor armswhich they support are thus unitary, and are rotatably supported bymeans including a plurality of rollers 170 and a similar set of rollers172.

lhe rollersl170ar'e carried by a ring 174 having a flanged inner endportion that encircles and is secured to the cylindrical wall 166 of theouter shroud 160. A track for the rollers 170 is provided by a splitring 176 that is secured to the adjacent wall 178 of the tower 152 andsurrounds a circular aperture 180 in said wall which facilitatesassembly and repair of the mechanism lying within the tower. Rollers 172are carried by a ring 182, which is similar to the ring 174 and has aninner flange encircling and secured to an impeller shroud 184 that nestspartially within the enlarged adjacent end portion of the wall 166.Outwardly extending angle pieces 186 are welded to the ring 182 andbolted to fixed support bars 188 which extend between the tower wall 178and an opposite tower wall 190. Further support of the impeller shroud184 is obtained by angle pieces 192 that are secured to the fixedsupport bars 188 and to a bell end air inlet at 194 which forms the airintake throat of the impeller shroud 184.

The interior of the impeller shroud is provided with a plurality offixed, radial support vanes 196 which are secured to a central hub 198.Ball bearings 200 are mounted in each counterbored end of the hub androtatably support a hollow drive shaft 202. The driveshaft is powered bya V-belt and sheave drive train 204 and carries an axial-flow impeller206 which is positioned between the vanes 168 and 196 for thrusting anair blast outward into the annular passage 156 for delivery of the airblast radially outward through the hollow rotor arms 154. Inlet air forthe impeller is supplied through a screen 208 that covers an aperture210 in the tower wall 190.

The outer end portion of each rotor arm 154 is formed with an outwardlycurved section 212 having interior vanes 214 to make the air flow followthe path of curved end. As illustrated, the curved section 212 projectsthe air blast along a path diverging outward from the rotational axis162 so that the rotor diameter can be substantially less than the heightof the tree foliage, but the curved section can obviously be formed tosuit predetermined operational conditions or can have an auxiliary,removable curved conduit section secured thereto in order to accommodateother operational conditions.

Concentrically mounted within the hollow driveshaft 202 is a stationaryconduit 2.16 which is supplied with liquid under pressure through aconduit 218. A T swivel coupling 220 is rotatably mounted on the outerend of the stationary conduit 216 and is connected to lines 222 whichindividually extend outward through the corresponding rotor arm 154.Each line 222 is coupled to a telescopic pipe setcion 224, only one ofwhich is shown, that accommodates extension or retraction of the rotorarm. The outer end of the telescopic section is coupled to a conduit 226which terminates in communication with a spray head 228 that atomizesthe spray liquid for entrainment in the air blast.

When either of the disclosed embodiments of the invention are to beplaced in operation, the length of the rotor arms 24 or 154 are adjustedto accommodate the known spraying requirements of the orchard. If thetrees to be sprayed have extremely dense foliage, the rotor arms arepreferably adjusted to be of the same length so that any one give areaof a tree will be subjected to the air blast of all of the rotor arms.The lowest and highest foliage to be sprayed will determine the adjustedlengths of the rotor arms. If only light spray coverage is desired atthe tops .and bottoms of the trees with intermediate deep penetration,the rotor arms can be adjusted to differ ent lengths so that there islittle vertical overlap of-the spray patterns. The horizontal overlapwill depend upon the speed with which the spray apparatus is moved alongthe row of trees, and the rotational speed of the rotors. In the case ofthe spray apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, the confronting sides of two rowsof trees can be sprayed simultaneously, but it will be apparent that theFIGURE 6 embodiment of the present inventionvcan with ordinarymechanical skill be provided with dual rotors to accomplish thesimultaneous spray coverage of adjacent rows of trees. Both forms of thespray apparatus effect a very eflicient dispersal of the spray materialand deep penetration of dense foliage due to the orbital movement of thespray discharge'structure. Further, both sprayers are effective in therapid spray coverage of low crops, such as grape vines, because themultiple air blasts, when they follow the same orbital path, project thespray to considerable distance.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described it will be understood that the particular details hereinset forth are capable of modification and variation without departingfrom the principles of the invention and that the scope of the inventionshould be limited only by the scope and proper interpretation of theclaims appended hereto.

For example, a rotor having only one rotor arm with a suitablecounterbalance can be used to replace either or both rotor assemblies,as can rotor assemblies with any symmetrical or counterbalanced array ofrotor arms. It is further contemplated that the spraying apparatus 10will have seasonal use in citrus orchards for the purpose of preventingfrost damage by circulating warm air among the trees without the liquidor dust pesticide.

The invention having thus been described, that which is believed to benew, and for which protection by Letters Patent is desired, is:

1. The method of treating a row of trees that include the steps ofconfining and discharging an air blast from an individual outlet towardthe row of trees, simultaneously moving the confined and discharged airblast in a plane parallel with the row of trees along a circular pathabout a center point, and simultaneously moving the centeir point of thecircular path along a linear path in the p ane.

2. The method described in claim 1, including confining and dischargingan air blast towards the row of trees from each individual outlet of aplurality of individual outlets positioned at different radial spacingfrom the center point, simultaneously moving the confined and dischargedair blasts in a plane parallel with the row of trees along circularpaths about the center point as determined by the radial spacingtherefrom, and simultaneously moving the center point of the circularpaths along a linear path in the plane.

3. Agricultural apparatus comprising a vehicle capable of movement alonga line of travel parallel with a row of orchard trees, a rotor mountedon said vehicle for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the line oftravel of the vehicle and having at least one arm projecting outwardlyfrom the rotor with a free end adapted to revolve in a circular path ina plane parallel to the row of trees, means mounted on said vehicle forgenerating an air blast, and separate means carried by said arm forconfining and directing the air blast from the free end of said rotorarm in an individual spray pattern toward the trees.

4. An agricultural apparatus as described in claim 3 wherein said rotorhas a plurality of hollow arms projecting radially outward from the axisof rotation of the rotor and said air blast generating means is an airimpeller which rotates about the axis of rotation of the rotor andforces air blasts through the hollow rotor arms.

5. An agricultural apparatus as described in claim 4 wherein said airblast confining and directing means includes an outwardly curved hollowsection at the outer end 7 of each rotor arm and interior vanespositioned within the outwardly curved sections for guiding the air flowabout the path of the curved sections.

6. An agricultural apparatus as described in claim 4 wherein each rotorarm is telescopically adjustable in length for regulating the positionof the air blast confining and directing means from the axis of rotationof the rotor.

7. An agricultural apparatus as described in claim 3 wherein said airblast generating means is an air impeller mounted at the outer end ofthe rotor arm and said air blast confining and directing means is anannular shroud positioned around the impeller.

8. An agricultural apparatus as described in claim 7 wherein said rotorhas a plurality of arms projecting therefrom, each arm having an airimpeller mounted at the outer end thereof with an annular shroudpositioned around the impeller, and each arm being adjustable in lengthfor regulating the position of the air impeller from the axis ofrotation of the rotor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,274,886 8/1918 Jacobson170135.21 2,183,195 12/1939 Kane 230-254 2,238,120 4/1941 Launder 239772,297,110 9/1942 Parker I 239655 2,587,965 3/1952 Campbell 23977 X2,613,109 10/1952 Walker 23977 2,800,746 7/1957 Harmon 239160 X2,807,120 9/1957 Graham 47-2 2,925,222 2/1960 Spreng 23977 X 3,067,54112/1962 Smith 23977 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner. V. C.WILKS, Assistant Examiner.

